Horns Up
by Val'Aishlym
Summary: "Oh? My art sucks, you say? Well then, sit down! I'ma draw the hell out of you!" Noalanniel hated humans, didn't he? Then how did this human manage to worm his way into his heart? Though, with everything else in his life, when it seemed everything was going well for him - tragedy always struck...and when it struck, it struck hard and fast. m!Charger x m!Lavellan WIP
1. Love's Requiem

**Chars: Male Lavellan (Noalanniel "Noah") & Male Inquisition Solider/Charger (Oberon O'Tiekrenal "Tek"), Noah & Iron Bull,**

 **Sum:** "Oh? My art sucks, you say? Well then, sit down! I'ma draw the hell out of you!" Noalanniel hated humans, didn't he? Then how did this human manage to worm his way into his heart? Though, with everything else in his life, when it seemed everything was going well for him - tragedy always struck...and when it struck, it struck hard and fast.

 **Note:** This is a WIP that has been plaguing me for as long as I can remember. The format of this story is kind of similar to my Bloom series.

 **Horns Up**

 **Love's Requiem**

"Just hang on!" the rain stung as it pelted against him, weighing his head down as his long black hair became water logged. He'd long since lost the tie that kept it up in a bun. The biting cold of the rain and wind made it hard for him to feel his body – though, even through the numbness, he felt the sharp sting underneath his nails as he clung to the rock face with one hand and the other gripping tightly to an arm clothed in heavy armor.

They'd gone to investigate a potential lead on another red lyrium smuggler in the Storm Coast. Corypheus was dead, but the red lyrium remained a serious problem. If the stuff got into the wrong hands again, they'd be dealing with an army of red Templars all over again. "I'm….not making any promises…" The elf chanced a glance downwards at his charge. The man's head was tilted downwards. His grip on the elf's own arm was steadily slipping. The elf's gaze went back up towards the top of the rock face. If only he could climb up…

His charge was heavy – made even heavier by the fact he was soaked. He could still hear the battle raging on at the top of the cliff. If the others didn't finish up soon, his charge or both of them would fall.

They'd been set up. Instead of finding the smugglers, they were surrounded by Venatori.

"A fall from here…even into the water…not sure anyone could survive that…" Noah looked down as his charge continued to speak. "I won't blame you for letting me go…I mean I'm pretty heavy…"

"Tek, shut up. We're going to come out of this alive." As he said that, he felt the piece of rock he was holding on to crack and jolt downward slightly. He looked up and let a slew of elvhen cusses pass his lips.

"Language, language…" leave it to Tek to joke at a time like this.

"Only you would joke at a time like this," Noah growled. Tek snickered.

"Remember what I said before when we first met? I laugh in the face of danger!"

"You did not say anything close to that, you sputtering idiot." Noah rolled his eyes as he recalled what the other did say. It was along the lines of 'I'm sorry' and a bunch of broken and incomprehensible elvhen and Trevene.

"You're hurting my feelings now, Lanny," Tek snickered. Another creak and they jolted downward again. "Sounds like the fighting is all done…" Just as he said that, Noah saw Bull, Dorian, and Cassandra's head pop over the cliff side.

"You two okay down there?" Cassandra shouted over the roaring wind.

"As much as we love the view, we could use a little help here!" Tek shouted back. "Not that I don't trust Lanny to hold both our weight – believe me I know he's capable-" Noah felt his face flush. "- but I don't really trust the rock to do the same!"

"Must you be perverse at every turn?" Noah growled. He heard Tek snicker.

"My – Lanny! Whatever do you mean? Am I starting to rub off on you – and I mean…influence you not the other rubbing off…we can do that later…"

"Oberon!" Noah snapped, while Tek just laughed.

"Grab on to the rope!" A rope was flung over the side and smacked Noah in the forehead. He shook his head and glared up. Dorian was smirking down at him.

"Bastard," a sudden thought struck Noah. How in the world was he going to grab the robe if he had to hang on to the cliff to keep from falling and hang on to Tek to keep him from falling? "Tek, you have to grab the rope first."

"Already ahead of you, babe!" Tek tugged on the rope a few times. Noah felt the rock under his hand crumble and break.

"Fenedhis!" Noah cursed as he began to drop, only stopped by the fact Tek was holding onto his wrist tightly.

"I got ya!" Tek shouted. "We're good. Pull us up!" Several grueling minutes later, Tek and Noah were pulled up over the side of the cliff. Tek stood while Noah sat with his hands planted in front of him.

"How, in the maker's name, did you two end up down there?" Cassandra asked, crossing her arms.

"You know how there was a big explosion right?" Tek grumbled, crossing his arms. "Yeah…that happened…God…I need a nice hot soak…I can't even feel my feet and my legs feel like jelly-!"

"Well…there is nothing for us here anymore. We should head back to Skyhold and follow up on the person who gave us this lead…" Cassandra frowned, ignoring the rest of the tanned man's complaints. He complained entirely too much…She wondered if it was a Tevinter thing because Dorian had been complaining nonstop since she had met him too.

Her attention, now, was solely on Noah who'd yet to get up.

"You okay, boss?" Bull asked the question she had been thinking.

"I can't feel anything…" Noah grumbled. A shiver ran through his body.

"We can get you checked out better when we get back to camp…dried…" Dorian grumbled under his breath.

"Ah, you're just cold. Allow me!" Tek grinned widely as he swooped down and picked the elf up bridal style. He grunted at the extra weight but complained no farther. "Was this just an excuse to get into my arms?"

"If I could feel my arms, I would throttle you," Noah grumbled in a huff. Bull and Dorian snickered. Cassandra rolled her eyes as she began to walk off, Bull and Dorian following after her. Tek leaned over and pressed his lips briefly to Noah's.

"I knew you loved me – I didn't know you loved me to the point of violence! You know I love 'em feisty," Tek smirked down at the flushed elf in his arms.

"Shut up and walk!" Tek laughed until he heard a loud crack. The ground under him shifted and jolted downward. "Ah, fuck me!" Noah yelped as he was thrown forward onto the ground. He rolled a bit on the ground, finally stopping on his back. He heard a crash and the sound of rocks crumbling and falling. He jolted upwards quickly just in time to see Tek fall with the crumbling cliff side. "OBERON!"


	2. Sweet Andraste

**Chars: Male Lavellan (Noalanniel "Noah") & Male Inquisition Solider/Charger (Oberon O'Tiekrenal "Tek"), Noah & Iron Bull,**

 **Ch. sum:** He complained as much as the people he complained about...Bull and his charger's join the inquisition...not without trouble; however.

 **Horns Up**

 **Sweet Andraste**

He'd never felt so utterly alone – even when amongst his own kind – until now with the Inquisition. He was surrounded by hundreds of people on a daily basis – yet it felt as if he walked around through empty halls and rooms. He hated the shems, he'd hear them whispering some horrendous tall tales about the Dalish. Josephine had warned him of those rumors but had refused to tell him what they were. Now he knew what they were and the stories the shems could come up with – he steered clear of them all.

He'd attempted to engage in conversation with the few elves roaming the camp – which was futile. They were either Dalish abandoned by their clan or city elves who didn't care for the Dalish. All and all, the elves hated what he was and the humans hated what he was.

He was quite literally and utterly alone.

He didn't trust to speak with Cassandra and Leliana – one, because he hated Cassandra for keeping him captive and two, because he thought Leliana was a bitch – also because they were shems but mostly for the other reasons – but not….

He hated being around Josephine because she talked entirely too much about things he didn't care for. She also had a horrible knack of pointing out his shortcomings. Always about the shems and their politics and the way he was carrying himself wrong; how he should be more poised and polished – not looking like something that was dragged out of the forest barefoot, kicking and screaming. That last one he had given her a withering glare for. That was essentially his case – well without the kicking and screaming part. She'd apologized profusely but he'd shrugged her apology off and decided he'd only deal with her whenever he was forced to.

He didn't like Solas for some of the same reasons he didn't like Josephine. Whenever he'd engage in conversation with the elven mage, he'd always leave with a headache and sour expression. The elven mage always found some way to talk down about Noah's heritage. He had brushed it off the first few times – the elf was obviously older and had much more reason and logic behind his distaste for the Dalish but had limited it to just parts of their customs and limited knowledge. After a while, it just got plain ole offensive. He stopped trying to engage the elf and just ignored his presence entirely.

It'd seem Solas had taken note of that and gave him little smug smirks from time to time– though, to anyone else, the elf was sharing some secret elven cues that were most likely talking down about the human kind – which made absolutely no sense at all but that was coming from a shem's mouth and….their rumors that star elves never make sense…. Solas just rubbed Noah the wrong way.

Varric…Varric was okay….He didn't mind Varric at all. If anyone were to cure him of his loneliness, it'd probably be Varric. He knew how it felt to be held captive by the overbearing Seeker. He'd had to deal with Leliana on past excursions. He would somewhat relate to Noah's feelings about both the Seeker and the Crow leader. The only thing was, he didn't like how familiar the dwarf would address him on. It didn't anger him – it just made him a little uncomfortable…that is until the dwarf decided he couldn't bother to pronounce the elf's name right. That was when Noah's ire rose.

"Your name is too complicated…Teddy…I like Teddy. I'll call you Teddy," Varric had said. Noah had given him a look that urged him to continue. "Teddy as in bear. You know Bears, they look all cuddly and nice but then they go and rip your face off! You remind me of a bear." He had been smirking.

Noah hated and accepted the idea. He hated the fact he was seen as…cuddly but liked the 'rip your face off' part. He knew there was nothing he could do to change the dwarf's mind – he seemed to have given everyone a nickname. He just had to deal with being cuddly and vicious. Noah snorted.

Then there was Dorian….Creators…Dorian…The mere thought of the man caused Noah's ire to rise. The man was insufferably sarcastic and never took anything serious unless it benefited him – granted that seemed to be the protocol for all things humans….well except Cassandra whom seemed to be anally retentive and overbearingly serious towards anything and everything.

* * *

Camp

The dark haired elf was sitting across from the fire with his broad sword across his lap. Reaching up, he pulled out the thin, leather strap keeping his long locks up in a bun. His silken, raven locks cascaded around him like a dark waterfall. He took a moment to trace over his vallaslin, watching his reflection in his sword. You could barely make out the designs, as it was nearly the same pale peach color of his skin.

Elgar'nan.

It was one of the trickier elven pantheon to prove yourself worthy of – at least it was in his clan. He didn't particularly like the memory that brought about his proof…

They were currently camped in Storm Coast. They had two things to do: one, meet people and two, meet people.

…..

…..

…..

Okay, that wasn't exactly what they had said but…Noah never really paid much mind during those war room meetings. He was too busy wallowing in the irritation he felt being surrounded by people he hated with such passion, it rivaled the damn hole in the sky…if the hole was hot, of course… Noah felt his face flush at the double meaning of his thoughts.

Creators…he needed to get laid…

"Noalen," he looked up to see Cassandra staring down at him with an odd look across her face. He hated how she changed his name every time she said it. He would much rather she just refer to him as Lavellan….though most of the time she would say Herald. Those times were when he wanted to bash her in the head with something…..he kept his anger in check, though – mostly…sometimes…

She stood there a while, not saying anything. As the seconds ticked on, irritation started to rise in the elf. He hated when the shem would just stare at him and say nothing. It grated on his last nerve. He was not known for his patience.

"What?" he snapped. His irate tone seemed to snap Cassandra out of whatever self-induced trance she was in. She gave one last wary look at Noah before shaking her head.

"Never mind," and with that, Noah watched her walk away.

"You know," Noah brought his gaze to Varric as the dwarf started for him. "She's probably just worried about you, Teddy." Noah narrowed his eyes at the nickname.

"She can keep her worry to herself – I care naught." Noah returned his gaze to his sword and glared at his reflection. Didn't they realize he hated them all? That, if given the chance, he would high-tail the hell out of here. He hated how they relied on him – seeming to hang on his every little word. They'd look to him for answers they could have found on their own or decisions they could have made on their own and if they didn't like said decision or answer, they'd look on in disappointment or give him a disapproving look.

If they didn't want to do what he thought was right, why in the hell would they keep coming back to him for him to decide on things? If they hated the fact that he was an elf, why keep pretending he was some herald to some god he didn't even believe in?

He felt a light weight settle on his hand and he jumped. If Varric hadn't have stepped back when he did, there was a high chance he would have been punched in the face.

"Teddy?" Noah looked up to see Varric giving him a worried look. He gestured down and Noah followed the gesture. He'd been gripping the blade of his sword and had cut into his hands. He hadn't even noticed… "Hey," Noah looked back to Varric. "It's not over-stepping it if you tell them to back off here and there," it looked like he wanted to say more. Noah frowned as he watched the dwarf walk away.

* * *

"Oh goody, Venatori! What a refreshing sight," Dorian commented dryly. They were just coming up on the shore where their first 'meeting people' mission was to take place. He vaguely remembered the Cream man say something about a charging bull. He wasn't so sure about that though…He only half listened to him.

When they came up on the sight, they were greeted by fighting. A mercenary group, who he believed were the ones they were meeting up with, were fighting against – you guessed it – Venatori.

"Quit your belly-aching and let's help them." Noah huffed, already pulling his great sword from its holster on his back.

"I get to complain until they're all dead," Dorian huffed back, already allowing his hands to spark with storm magic. Noah's would-be snarky reply was interrupted by one of the Venatori came charging at him with a sword raised. Noah brought up his sword to deflect the blow. He ended up making the vint's sword fly out of his hand.

"I thought this would be harder than that…" Noah grumbled as he crashed his sword into the vint's head, splitting it and allowing blood to spray across his face.

"Hn. An Elf with a sword, that's a first." Noah looked up at the deep voice. He watched in fascination as the giant man who had spoken swung his great sword and smashed into 3 of the vints at once. "The Iron Bull. These are my Chargers. We'll talk more when the vints are dead."

"Noalanniel, Herald….thingy…Yeah, when they die…" Noah grumbled back an introduction, causing the giant man to smirk.

The battle raged on without incident – well incident for those not Venatori agents. Noah had struck his sword down into the ground to catch his breath.

He could swing the sword easily but it still took a lot out of him. He took that time to observe those he was fighting alongside. Dorian and Varric were somewhere in the backlines picking off Venatori archers. The big Qunari dude – Bull – he'd been on the front lines along with Noah. They actually worked pretty well together. They kept enemies from flanking each other.

"Sweet Andraste's flaming titty-knuckles!" Noah's gaze shot to his right at the shout to see someone come flying at him. The guy rammed into him so hard, it sent both of them flying to the ground. Noah managed to knock his head on a stone on the way down. He managed to keep conscious long enough to hear sputtered apologies and curses intermingled with four different languages. He couldn't really tell what languages they were because he was already blackening out.

* * *

"'Sweet Andraste's flaming titty knuckles'?" Varric quirked an amused eyebrow at the man currently kneeling on the ground bowing.

"Geez, Renal," Bull sighed. "You need to watch what you're doing…you could have killed our potential employer." Bull stared down at the unconscious elf with a raised eyebrow. "'Sweet Andraste's flaming titty-knuckles'?" Bull regarded the man still on the ground with an amused smirk. "That's a new one."

"I swear, in the maker's name, I didn't even see the defender! He literally came out of fucking nowhere and flung me across the damn world!" Renal cried. "Is he okay?" He was now referring to the elf still laid out on the ground with a gash on the side of his head. Dorian was kneeling over him with his hand hovering over the gash.

"I'm not a healer." Dorian grumbled lowly. "The most I can do is stop the bleeding…Though, I'm pretty sure he'll be in a tremendous amount of pain when he wakes up." Dorian paused, glancing at the man who winced. "I wouldn't want to be around him when he wakes…But that is just coming from a shem who wants to keep all of their body parts in the right places."

"Hnhnhn…" the man made a series of nervous noises as Bull sighed.

"I'm guessing this hurts our chances of an alliance, huh?" Iron Bull asked. He looked at Cassandra. "Unless it's…you who is calling all the shots?" Cassandra just shrugged, gesturing down to the unconscious elf.

"I say," Dorian started as he stood up. "We leave this dreadful place and return to Haven. I'm wet, cold, and aggravated!" Cassandra glared at him. "Besides," Dorian added as he caught the look Cassandra was giving him. "The herald should be somewhere warm and comfortable surrounded by healers for him to get better faster…?" it came out more as a question then anything. Cassandra sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Very well…I suppose we should return….At least we have finished half of what we have come here for…Though, I do not believe we can wait for him to get better to do the rest. I will assemble a few soldiers and will return here to finish our mission."

"Right." Dorian grumbled. Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him while he just smiled at her.

"Well…" Bull was frowning.

"Yes. I do believe he would have you join us anyway." Cassandra sighed. "We can talk about this in detail later. I am Cassandra Pentaghast. I have heard of you and your Chargers group. You will be a valuable asset to the inquisition."

"Glad to hear." He pointed to himself. "The Iron Bull," He pointed at the man walking towards them. "My second, Krem. You might be familiar with him already since he was the one to send you the message about us being over here." Bull rolled his eyes and pointed at the man on the ground. "The klutz is Oberon."


End file.
